Bailie, Thomas
Private
No. 3033371, 4th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment)
Killed in action on Tuesday 1 October 1918 (aged 41)
Buried:
Sancourt British Cemetery, France (Grave I. D. 32)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM)
Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance
Donaghadee and District War Memorial
Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Church
Family Grave Headstone in Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Graveyard
BIOGRAPHY
In some records his surname is spelt Baillie.
Thomas Bailie was born on 19 April 1877 in Church Lane, Donaghadee. At attestation he declared his date of birth to be 28 March 1878. On his CWGC headstone his age is inscribed as 42.
Thomas Bailie was a son of William and Catherine Bailie (nee Kimm, sometimes Kim) who were married on 15 August 1872 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark). William Bailie was a car driver from Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee and he was a son of William Bailie, a shoe maker. Catherine Kimm from Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee was a daughter of John Kimm, a cooper.
The Bailie family lived in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee.
William Bailie was a car driver and labourer and he and Catherine had at least eight children:
Eliza (born 12 April 1873 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee)
James (born 6 May 1875 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
Thomas (born 19 April 1877 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
William Henry (born 10 March 1879 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
Robert (born 25 January 1881 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
Hugh (born 7 March 1883 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
Ellen (born 26 October 1885 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
Mary Isabella (born 28 August 1889 in Church Lane, Donaghadee)
Some of the children were baptised in Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Church.
Thomas Bailie and Agnes (Aggie) Bennett were married on 28 September 1896 in Ballycopeland Presbyterian Church. Thomas Bailie (aged 19) was a labourer from Donaghadee. Agnes Bennett, full age, was also from Donaghadee.
Thomas worked as a general labourer, Agnes worked as an embroiderer, they lived at 9 Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee and they had at least nine children including:
Agnes Bennett (born 9 March 1898 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee)
Elizabeth (born 31 July 1900 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee; died 11 September 1905)
Catherine (born 4 December 1902 in Ballycopeland; died 18 March 1986)
Samuel (born 17 February 1905 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee; died in June 1974 in Toronto)
Hugh (born 19 October 1906 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee)
Almira (born 25 January 1909 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee)
Henrietta (born 7 February 1911 in Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee)
Two other children ‘died young’.
Some of the children were baptised in Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Church.
Thomas Bailie moved to the USA and he was living in Sioux City, Iowa when he made the journey to enlist in Toronto on 21 January 1918.
He had his medical examination the following day in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
In his attestation papers he cited his wife Agnes, who was still living at 9 Hunter’s Lane, Donaghadee, as his next of kin.
He stated that he was a farmer and it was noted that Thomas Bailie was 5 feet 6½ inches tall with grey eyes and brown hair.
After Private Thomas Bailie was killed in action on 1 October 1918 Agnes placed a For King and Country notice in the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
God is good, He’ll give me grace
To bear my heavy cross;
He is the only one who knows
How bitter is my loss.
We mourn the absent voice and face,
That made home doubly dear,
But memory fills the vacant place,
And keeps him ever near.
At the time of Thomas Bailie’s death his son-in-law, Joseph McChesney, was also on active service.
Joseph McChesney and Annie Bailie were married on 25 January 1918 and they lived at 25 Bow Street, Donaghadee.
They too placed a For King and Country notice in the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
We have lost the dearest father,
And we mourn his absence sore;
His loving form and kindly smile
We’ll see on earth no more.
And with the morn, those
Angel faces smile
Which we have loved
Long since, and lost awhile
Private Thomas Bailie (No. 3033371) was 41 when he died, and he was buried in Sancourt British Cemetery in France.
Private Thomas Bailie (No. 3033371) is commemorated on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM); in the Canadian First World War Book of Remembrance; on Donaghadee and District War Memorial; in Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Church and on the family grave headstone in Donaghadee Parish Church of Ireland Graveyard.
Private Thomas Bailie’s widow, Agnes Bailie, died on 22 January 1929 (aged 51).